Scarecrow & Tinmen

Item: Superhero
Author: Bert Gangl

Superhero

(2000)

Reviewed by Bert Gangl

Discogs YouTube

Label Organic RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2000

ccm pop rock post-grunge

On their 1999 debut, No Place Like Home, Scarecrow & Tinmen served up a fairly diverse musical bill of fare consisting of rock, pop, folk and funk. For their sophomore release, Superhero, the band has opted to work, for the most part, from a similarly eclectic palette. A substantial number of the songs, like "God Is Good," are built on the now-familiar energetic and distorted guitar treatments that define the post-grunge rock template. Others such as "Groovy" embellish that basic sound with touches of R&B and '60s-era psychedelia. While these songs certainly exhibit the group's sizable competency on straight-ahead pop-rock numbers, the band seems to really hit its stride as it dips into a more offbeat cache. The sunny disposition and semi-playful "doo doo doo" vocals on "The Reason" give the eminently infectious tune a sound akin to a cross between the Partridge Family and the Sesame Street theme. And the combination of dissonant vocals, hokey lyrics and odd sound effects makes the title track a shoe-in for the score to a long-forgotten science fiction B movie. The band's ample vocal and instrumental skills are largely overshadowed, though, by their tendency to borrow too liberally from other artists. The hip-hop groove of "Big Mouth," for instance, is nearly archetypal Nu Thang era dc Talk, complete with dead-on vocal imitations of both Kevin Max and Toby McKeehan. "Get Off My Back" pays more than its fair share of tribute to the distinctive funk groove of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." And the guitar melody line of "Jesus is God" is lifted, practically note for note, from Cream's 1967 hit, "Sunshine of Your Love."

Just as Superhero's musical side is decidedly less than pioneering, its lyrics are significantly beset by the same innovative deficit. In fairness, the lion's share of the album's mostly evangelistic messages are put forth with bold, clear language. But, while titles like "God is Good" and "Jesus is God" may be forthright enough with regard to their respective themes, lyrics such as (Jesus is God/ Why don't you believe) and (God is good/ All the time/ All the time/ God is good) are hardly the stuff of Shakespearean prose. Similarly, the sentiment of songs like "The Reason" (Superstars and fancy cars/ The glitter, glitz and glam) is delivered mainly by way of cliche, and the title track (The guilt from all of my sins/ Was just like kryptonite) simply verges on silliness. Occasionally, as on the pleasant ballad "This Much," the group succeeds at making comparatively profound statements, but more often than not, their efforts ultimately stall under the weight of awkward and unoriginal wording. Of course, it may be that, with song titles such as "Bionic Son" and lyrical statements like (All that Jesus did/ It's so groovy), the group's intent is tongue-in-cheek humor and not serious statement. And, at least in that regard, they succeed, creating music that is both buoyant and fun. But the overabundance of musical styles covered points more to a band grasping for a unique sound than to one expanding upon it. All said and done, although the album abounds with both light-hearted humor and musical agility, the overly derivative nature and pedestrian wording of Superhero offer little incentive for repeated listening.

2.5 tocks